TIP - Shipping a UK digital TV and getting it to tune into Oz programmes

[neila72]

Speaking to a consultant from JM yesterday he gave me this great tip (if it works) - wondered if anyone can confirm it..?

 

For all UK digital TV's you ship to Oz (except Panasonic) you can tune the digital programming in Oz by doing the following:

 

1. Menu -> Auto Tune -> (this gives a picture but no sound)

 

2. Menu -> Sound Menu -> Change country to.. -> GERMANY

 

This should give you the sound, as Germany are on the same frequency as Oz...!

 

A great tip if it works, anyone have experience of doing this with Sony/Samsung tv's, which is the brand I have. :biggrin:

[kimsdu]

Tvs are pretty cheap out here to be honest. I have heard of people having no problems or lots of problems. We bought a brand new 42 inch Sharp tv when we arrived for $349.00.. We bought a second 50 inch tv a few months back which is one of the no name chinese ones which is actually way better and that was only $329.00... We were dubious of them but lots of friends have them and they work great ..

[pegibson]

$329 for a 50"! bargain.. I want two if they are any good.. :biggrin:

[MrBlean]

If that works then I guess it would also work with any PVR you have. But if you don't have a PVR and choose to buy one in Oz, it will have its own Oz-specific tuner (or two) so the TV just acts as a monitor rather than a receiver.

 

I would check out the recommendation for you as we shipped our UK Panasonic TV and Humax PVR but they are both satellite models not free to air so unable to receive non-sateliite signals. I simply purchased an Oz-specific Humax PVR.

 

You can buy a cheapo set top receiver for about $39. That will simply provide the Oz-specific tuner for your UK TV.

 

Will be keen to learn if the solution recommended actually works. Will be invaluable for others relocating.

 

Can't understand why it would apply to any brand other than Panasonic.

[Alant]

I can confirm that it does work - I did this on Tuesday with my Sony Bravia TV and it works a treat!!

[neila72]

The consultant said Panasonic UK tv's only allow you to change the sound setting to other countries within Great Britain (Wales, Scotland, Ireland), whereas all others allow European frequncy changes. Not sure why.

[neila72]

Great news. Thanks Alant. Something to remember when I get out there..!

[MrBlean]

The consultant said Panasonic UK tv's only allow you to change the sound setting to other countries within Great Britain (Wales, Scotland, Ireland), whereas all others allow European frequncy changes. Not sure why.

 

All we need now to complete the picture (sorry for the pun) is for someone with a UK Panasonic Digital TV to confirm this doesn't work.

[jim bugg]

So will panasonic still work fine with a freeview type set top box?

[MrBlean]

So will panasonic still work fine with a freeview type set top box?

 

Yes, provided it's a set top box designed for use in the locality (Australia) The set top box incorporates the decoder and provides the signal the TV requires. The TV simply acts like a PC monitor and displays what it is provided by the set top box.

 

Since this thread started, I have discovered that my Panasonc Satellite TV also includes a 'standard' digital decoder. I previously thought it was satellite-only.

 

Hence, for a moment, I thought I had partially wasted my money buying a PVR until I ran auto-tune on the TV and it found no channels. So the TV appears not to work standalone (as per the instructions above) without an external decoder such as a PVR or set top box.